Gensler, the global architecture firm, is currently working on nine citizenM-branded hotels across North America, including a 264-key hotel in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle that, when it opens in May, will be that city’s first fully modular hotel.
Gensler is among a growing number of AEC firms that are incorporating prefabrication and modular construction into their project design. The hotel sector has been particularly receptive to modular construction, most notably Marriott International, which since 2015 has included prefab guestrooms and bathrooms in more than 50 of its projects.
The Building Team that worked on the citizenM project in Seattle stacked seven to eight modules per day, on average, and set all of the rooms in 89 days, reducing the project’s schedule by four months, and reducing construction waste by as much as 60%. (Mortenson is the GC on this hotel project.)
The rooms themselves are small; the width of a king-size bed and only 160 sf. But they are designed and built to luxury-brand standards with the latest control technology. The rooms will also include personal tablets that allow guests to track the hotel’s real-time sustainability performance.
ALSO SEE: Meet the masters of offsite construction
“Prefabrication has a lot of positive impacts: on construction speed, improved quality and construction tolerances, on people and processes,” observes Daniel Glaessl, Design Director for Gensler in its San Francisco Bay Area office.
He says that his office is using prefabrication “as often as possible.” But there are some challenges: manufacturing plants can be in remote locations, for one. (The modules for the citizenM hotel in Seattle were shipped to the Port of Seattle from a Europe-based supplier.) Glaessl adds that prefab requires more preplanning and longer lead times, and the components need to be designed so they can fit onto trucks for transport.
Clark Pacific sees growth in demand for prefabrication and modular construction solutions
As prefabrication and modular construction become more popular in the U.S., building teams and their clients have been turning to domestic supply partners. For example, Clark Pacific, a components provider that has operated out of West Sacramento, Calif., since 1963, is working with Gensler’s Seattle office through design assist on a separate citizenM hotel in San Francisco.
Clark Pacific is the single source for that building’s envelope, utilizing the supplier’s Infinite Panel, a standard frame and connection system that meets or exceeds Title 24, water, vapor, sound and fire code requirements. This project is entering the production phase in Clark Pacific’s Northern California plant that will prefabricate the hotel’s façade.
Façade manufacture is how Clark Pacific got started, says Mickey Ankheli, AIA, its Director of Architecture/Design-Build. But over the years it has expanded its product variety and delivery system.
Clark Pacific’s plant in Woodland, Calif., which sits on 120 acres, focuses on structural components and products for its glass division. The company’s 2-million-sf plant in Fontana, Calif., makes Infinite Panel and Architectural Precast products. And its factory in Adelanto, Calif., makes structural components.
Ankheli says his company is seeing a “lot of traction” in demand for prefabricated products from the multifamily and campus housing sectors. That demand is strengthening, he posits, because of the industry’s labor shortage. And prefab assembly is particularly well suited for tight urban settings.
But, he acknowledges, prefabricated delivery requires that design decisions “be locked in earlier, and architects need to understand these parameters.” His company now positions itself as a provider of turnkey design-build.
The construction of a citizenM hotel in Seattle used prefabricated modules that were placed seven to eight per day. Image: Gensler and Heywood Chen
“Prefab works best on projects that have a lot of iteration in their design,” says Glaessl. So design teams “need to be disciplined.”
That doesn’t mean there’s no flexibility in prefabrication or modular construction. Gensler and Clark Pacific are working on a parking structure for a technology client in the Bay Area. The structure, which will have a maximum capacity of 2,055 parking stalls, is being designed for adaptive reuse as office space, if market conditions warrant such a shift in use.
Ankheli recalls that, in midstream, the parking structure’s client wanted changes that included adding an athletic field to the project. While Clark Pacific had to retool a bit, Ankheli asserts that prefabrication actually made it easier to meet the client’s wishes.
The company, which sells into the west coast, including Arizona and Nevada, touts the resilience of its components, especially during seismic events. Clark Pacific sees its growth coming primarily from greater efficiency in serving its existing markets, says Ankheli.
Related Stories
| Jun 23, 2014
5 new designs unveiled for Make It Right homes at Fort Peck, Mont.
Make It Right, Brad Pitt's foundation that builds homes for people in need, has just revealed five new designs for the Fort Peck (Mont.) Indian Reservation.
| Jun 19, 2014
First Look: 10 Design unveils new luxury apartments plan in Dubai
The Seventh Heaven complex features a stepped form that will offer stunning views of the Dubai skyline.
| Jun 18, 2014
Arup uses 3D printing to fabricate one-of-a-kind structural steel components
The firm's research shows that 3D printing has the potential to reduce costs, cut waste, and slash the carbon footprint of the construction sector.
| Jun 13, 2014
First look: BIG's spiraling museum for watchmaker Audemars Piguet
The glass-and-steel pavilion's spiral structure acts as a storytelling device for the company's history.
| Jun 12, 2014
Austrian university develops 'inflatable' concrete dome method
Constructing a concrete dome is a costly process, but this may change soon. A team from the Vienna University of Technology has developed a method that allows concrete domes to form with the use of air and steel cables instead of expensive, timber supporting structures.
| Jun 11, 2014
5 ways Herman Miller's new office concept rethinks the traditional workplace
Today's technologies allow us to work anywhere. So why come to an office at all? Herman Miller has an answer.
| Jun 9, 2014
Green Building Initiative launches Green Globes for Sustainable Interiors program
The new program focuses exclusively on the sustainable design and construction of interior spaces in nonresidential buildings and can be pursued by both building owners and individual lessees of commercial spaces.
| Jun 2, 2014
Parking structures group launches LEED-type program for parking garages
The Green Parking Council, an affiliate of the International Parking Institute, has launched the Green Garage Certification program, the parking industry equivalent of LEED certification.
| May 30, 2014
MIT researchers create 'home in a box' transformable wall system for micro apartments
Dubbed CityHome, the system integrates furniture, storage, exercise equipment, lighting, office equipment, and entertainment systems into a compact wall unit.
| May 29, 2014
7 cost-effective ways to make U.S. infrastructure more resilient
Moving critical elements to higher ground and designing for longer lifespans are just some of the ways cities and governments can make infrastructure more resilient to natural disasters and climate change, writes Richard Cavallaro, President of Skanska USA Civil.
